This blog was created to honor the memory of Lebanese heroes of all sects who were assassinated for their patriotic stands. May God bless their souls and bless Lebanon.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Living On Different Planets:Berri's Visit to Damascus

"Berri Travels to Syria for Talks with Assad on Eve of Dialogue"

This is how I was greeted today morning when I clicked on Naharnet. With all honesty: does this title make you want to read further? Because I refused to click on it and was satisfied with the it-says-it-all headline.

I am appalled by the dialogue and by Berri's visits to Damascus on the eve of the dialogue rounds. For God's sake, has the Cedar Revolution taken place, or was it just a term coined by the outsiders to depict a transient moment in our country's history? What Revolution? We have not advanced much since the Syrian forces left the country last year.

Our Speaker of the House, and most importantly, the Godfather of the so-called Al-Hiwar Al-Watani, visits Damascus for talks with President Assad, while on the same webpage, Naharnet writes: "Prime Minister Fouad Saniora has said...that a meeting between the two governments would happen 'sooner or later.'"

Who are we kidding? Lebanon is such a tiny country, yet its inhabitants can appear like they live on different planets. And while Berri is heading East to Damascus, Seniora has headed West to Europe. Go figure!

"Nobody knows how many rebellions, besides political rebellions, ferment in the masses of life which people earth."

9 comments:

We just have to make sure that the next time we have a "revolution", we re elect berri, or at least we make sure we re elect same hariris and jumblats and hizballaz so that they can re elect berri for us.And then we nag and cry when berri behaves like he always did.And then we re elect hariri and jumblat and they re elect berri and we cry and we nag.

Unlike the Christians who are divided the Shiite politicians are unified. I do not think there was an opportunity to elect someone else. And no Shiite politician would have dared put his name on the table..

At the same time I agree having Berri get reelected by Future and PSP was a nightmare.

Ramzi, I guess we'll never know if there was an opportunity because THEY NEVER TRIED or even proposed to maybe possibly find someone else even if from amal or hizballah themselves , at the least just for the symbolic sake of trying to get someone else.

One thing I realized following Lebanese politics compared to US politics. Is that the big Lebanese politicians care very little about the symbolism of anything they do. They simply know they are going to be reelected in perpetuity.

So if they want to do something they just do it. Unfortunately, until the voters hold their leaders liable for their actions, this will continue..

How to solved Lebanon problem from a geopolitical historical point of view:

The US policy makers should understand the concept of the so-called Wilayat Al-Faqih and how Iran is trying to export this concept of ‘Religious Despotism’ to the rest of the Middle East by relying on the allegiance of some groups scattered throughout the region. In this regard, Assad has been instrumental in facilitating the propagation of this concept to the detriment of Mr. Bush’s plan of a Democratic Middle East. I believe that the time has come for the US to adopt a different policy than its present obviously ineffective Middle Eastern one. Jordan’s King has been very vocal in this regard by giving early warnings about the emergence of a so-called Iranian crescent stretching from Iran to Lebanon and beyond. It is possible that the King of Jordan may play a pivotal role in this new US policy being the custodian of the Hashemite legacy which was instrumental in liberating Damascus some 100 years ago from the Turkish yoke. A similar yoke is shaping over Damascus and the rest of Syria. Iranian agents are all over Damascus and the Damascenes are getting increasingly fed up with the Iranian’s unwelcome behavior and ideologies. It is quite possible that the majority of the Syrians would rally behind the King for a renewed campaign of liberating Damascus once again from, this time we may say, the despotic agents of the Wilayat Al-Faqih of Persia. The King may receive financial as well as military support from Egypt, the Gulf States and of course the US. I believe that Damascus will have to be liberated sooner or later in order to bring about a peaceful Middle East. The sooner of course would be the better and the benefits will be huge. If the King liberates Damascus and establishes outposts on the borders with the Lebanese Beka’a valley, then the problems of Lebanon will be solved. In this case, Lebanon will be neighboring a more reasonable Arab regime. In addition, Syrian/Iranianian supported militias would disintegrate by losing the arms conduit through Syria. The Syrian people would rise and topple the despotic Baath regime. Having an Arab army entering Damascus is less costly and more acceptable than seeing American GI’s in the city. Iran would lose its regional status as a power broker by losing its Syrian/Lebanese base.